Fire survivor’s tool ultimately seen in photos (7)
I believe the answer is:
phoenix
'fire survivor's' is the definition.
(a phoenix emerges from the ashes)
'tool ultimately seen in photos' is the wordplay.
'tool' becomes 'hoe' (hoe is a kind of tool).
'ultimately' suggests the final letters.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'photos' becomes 'pix' (short for pictures).
The final letter of 'seen' is 'n'.
'hoe'+'n'='hoen'
'hoen' inserted into 'pix' is 'PHOENIX'.
(Other definitions for phoenix that I've seen before include "25 28 [MARS LANDER]" , "Mythological bird" , "Legendary bird born from ashes" , "part of Arizona" , "Arizona city (that rose from the ashes?)" .)